


It's Always The Flower Bed...

by VorpalGirl



Series: A Series of Unfortunate WIPs [2]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Aerith's Flower Bed, Alternate Universe - Afterlife, Alternate Universe - Angels, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angels of Death, Archived From My Tumblr, Color-Coded For Your Convenience: Angel Wings Edition, Culture Shock, F/M, Fanfiction of Fanfiction, Ficlet, First Meetings, Flirting, Fluff and Humor, Meet-Cute, One of my older fics, People Turn Into Angels When They Die Sometimes In This Setting Don't Ask, Temporary Character Death, happy afterlife
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-13
Updated: 2018-12-13
Packaged: 2019-09-17 07:43:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16970580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VorpalGirl/pseuds/VorpalGirl
Summary: Afterlife newbie Zack Fair isn't anything like Aerith what expected an Angel of Death to be. As an Angel of Life, she arguably shouldn't consort with him, either...right?...but he IS kind of cute...(A fluffy little Zerith snippet from an angels-of-life-and-death AU. Inspired by Tobiroth's "Where Are We Now?")





	It's Always The Flower Bed...

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Tobiroth](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tobiroth/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Where Are We Now?](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1115482) by [Tobiroth](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tobiroth/pseuds/Tobiroth). 



> Back in about 2014, I had originally started a work inspired by Tobiroth's "angels of life and death AU" and this was supposed to be the happy ending. As the verse was very emotionally demanding, it stands unfinished, but feel free to enjoy this stand alone bit of fluff archived from my Tumblr "my fics" tag.

  
Aerith was minding her own business, humming to herself happily as she tended the flowers – not that they needed it, in the perfect gardens of the Lifestream, but in life it had been something that she had always enjoyed and here was no exception – when something noisy plowed into her from behind.

The heavy weight of it knocked the wind out of her, and it was a moment before she had the breath to gasp: “What in the world – !?”

She gaped at the sight of what had smacked into her: it was a  _person_ , who had not only run into her, but then subsequently landed in and thoroughly shredded much of the flower bed she’d been working on.

“Ah - ha…sorry,” he gasped, laughing. He had a cute smile and a nice laugh, at least, his admittedly pretty blue eyes shining with sheepish mirth. “Sorry! I’m still gettin’ the hang of these things! I think I was pushin’ it a little…” he said, gesturing a thumb towards his probably very new wings.  
  
“You  _think_  you were pushing it?” she said dryly, before the breath cut out of her.  
  
Black. His wings were  _black_.   
  
Not the shining white or gentle creamy hues of an Angel of Life; an iridescent black, one of the colors given only to Angels of Death. What in all that was holy was he doing  _here_?

Oblivious to her shock, he laughed. “Fair enough! I really shoulda given myself more room to land.” He stood then, using his pants to brush the soil and plant scraps off of his hands. “You okay? I smacked into you pretty hard there…”  
  
“Yes…” she said, because she was. He looked at her, his head tilted, and she realized that that wasn’t the clearest way to answer that. “I’m fine,” she clarified, brushing a bit soil off her shirt.

“Good,” he said, nodding happily. “I’m Zack, by the way,” he said, suddenly extending a hand.  
  
For a long moment she just stared at it, like one might an alien with three heads. “Um…Aerith,” she said eventually, gingerly putting her hand in his.   
  
He shook it firmly but gently. “Nice to meet you!”  
  
“…likewise?” she said, more out of a sense of obligation to the social script than anything else. “Um…are you…lost?” Because she couldn’t think of any reason an angel from  _Jenova’s_  side of the afterlife would ever be on  _hers_.

“Nah,” he said cheerfully. “I’m visiting a friend.”  
  
_That_  got her attention almost more than his arrival had. “A friend?  _Here_?”  
  
“Yeah!” he said. “Though, they tell me I might not actually be able to see him yet. Do you know a blond angel named Cloud?”  
  
Her mouth fell open. “Cloud? You know  _Cloud_?” she said. “ _How_?”

His expression softened. “He was there, when…well. He made it easier for me. When I passed. I guess he got in trouble for that. Figured it’s only right to pay him a visit…”  

Oh.  _Oh._

_This_ was –  _oh_.

“I…I see,” she murmured. There had been rumors, of course, but nothing concrete. All anyone really knew was that Cloud had used his powers in a way he wasn’t supposed to, and was being punished for it. Using them to help a person die would certainly fit the bill, though she couldn’t imagine why he would.  
  
Still, it didn’t seem right to pry, especially with the boy in question right in front of her.   
  
“Yeah, he’s…he’s not going to be able to receive visitors for a few months, last I heard,” she said, feeling rather bad for…what was his name again? Zack? “I’m sorry…”  
  
Zack shook his head. “It’s all right,” he said amiably. “Not like you had anything to do with the decision…” he glanced down at the ground below him, adding: “Um…sorry about the flowers.”

“Oh, that’s all right,” she say, waving a a dismissive hand, and already reaching with the other one for the nearest uprooted lily. “They’ll be fine once we get them upright again. The plants here are hardy.”  
  
“Well, that’s good,” he said, and to her surprise, knelt down in the bed as well. When she looked up at him, he saw the question in her eyes, and smiled. “I should help,” he said. “Since I’m the one who messed them up.”

It was hard not to meet a smile like that with a smile of her own. “Good point,” she said, a lofty note of teasing in her voice.   
  
After a few minutes of fixing the bed, it was as good as new. Or close enough, anyway. They sat back with satisfaction, and he said: “They’re really pretty.”  
  
She smiled again – who would have thought that she’d smile so much in the presence of an Angel of Death? But he made it easy to. “They really are,” she agreed.  
  
A pause. “Not half as pretty as your smile, though,” he said.   
  
The boldness of that surprised a laugh out of her. “Cheeky!” she said.   
  
“It’s true, though,” he said, and when she looked at him, he was looking at her, and the look in his eyes was so… _happy_. Relaxed, sort of. Like just being around her was a pleasure. It was enough to make her blush.   
  
“Oh… _you_ ,” she murmured, which only made his smile wider. It had been a long time since someone had looked at her quite like that. And despite herself, she found she quite liked it.   
  
“Hey, Aerith…?” he said, a moment later.   
  
“Yeah?”  
  
“Do…people date here? Like, romantically and stuff?”  
  
"Er…yes,” she said, tilting her head. He  _must_  be truly new if simple things like that were unknown to him. Or…maybe it wasn’t a thing on Jenova’s side of the afterlife? What a sad thought that was. “Some do, at least around here…why?”  
  
“Are  _you_  dating anybody right now?”  
  
“I – no?” she said, blinking. Was this going where she thought it was? It couldn’t be…right? “I’m not, at the moment.”  
  
She was staring intently enough at him that she noticed the beginning of a blush in his cheeks. “Um…would…you like to?”  
  
She was so stunned that it took her a long time to respond, and this apparently flustered him more than anything else so far.   
  
“I mean – you don’t have to! It’s okay, I just – you seem really nice and fun and  _really_  cute, and gods, I’m sorry if just made things awk–ward…?” he trailed off, interrupted by a giggle from her.  
  
“You,” she said. “are kind of adorable.”  
  
“…is that a good thing?” he said, a note of cautious hope in his voice.  
  
“Yes,” she said, grinning at the reaction. She’d forgotten how fun flirting with someone could be. He brightened at that, and she decided she liked him best when he smiled.

“Okay…” he said, clearly still a bit shy but bolstered by her words. “So…you  _might_ want to…?”  
  
“Hmm,” she said in mock-seriousness, putting a hand to her chin. “I dunno. We’ve only  _just_  met, after all…”  
  
For a moment she wondered if her teasing had gone too far, because there was a split second where he looked a little stricken. He quickly bounced back, though. “Okay,” he said eagerly. “So…how about we start with just one date? Just to see if you like me.”  
  
“Don’t you mean ‘just to see if we like  _each other_ ’?” she said, eyes sparkling.  
  
He grinned. “Nah,” he said. “I already know I like  _you_.”

“Flatterer,” she teased.   
  
“ _Cutie_ ,” he accused right back.

She laughed. “Okay! You win. One date.”  
  
The way his face lit up when she agreed was confirmation that it was worth it, black wings be darned.


End file.
